Statistics

2016 Health Manpower Survey

Summary of the Characteristics of Registered Nurse Enumerated

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I. Registered Nurses Covered

1.1  The registered nurses covered in the 2016 HMS were nursing personnel registered in the register under the Nurses Registration Ordinance (Chapter 164) as at the survey reference date - 31.8.2016.

1.2  The number of registered nurses covered was 38 719.

1.3  Of the 38 719 registered nurses covered, 15 250 responded to the survey, giving an overall response rate of 39.4%. Among the respondents, 12 513 (82.1%) were economically active1,2 (active) in the local nursing / midwifery profession as at 31.8.2016 and 2 737 (17.9%) were economically inactive1,3 (inactive) in the local nursing / midwifery profession (Chart A) .

1.4  Of the 12 513 active registered nurses enumerated, 12 215 (97.6%) were practising in the local nursing / midwifery profession, 185 (1.5%) were seeking jobs, 47 (0.4%) had not been available for work because of temporary sickness, and 66 (0.5%) believed that work was not available, were waiting to take up a new job or expecting to return to their original jobs in the local nursing / midwifery profession during the 30 days before the survey. The survey results presented in paragraph 1.6 below were based on 12 215 responding registered nurses who were practising in the local nursing / midwifery profession as at 31.8.2016. As certain questionnaires contained missing information, percentages presented below may not add up to 100% .

1.5  Of the 2 737 inactive registered nurses, 408 (14.9%) reported practising overseas, 28 (1.0%) reported practising in the Mainland and 2 301 (84.1%) reported not seeking job in the local nursing / midwifery profession during the 30 days before the survey (Chart A). Among the 2 301 inactive registered nurses who reported not seeking jobs, the main reasons for not seeking jobs included: 1 063 (46.2%) were retired, 509 (22.1%) were engaged in household duties, 372 (16.2%) were working in other professions, 241 (10.5%) wanted to take a rest / had no motive to work / had no financial need and 116 (5.0%) reported emigrated, undertaking study, etc.

*   In the survey, the criteria used in defining economically active / inactive followed those recommended by the International Labour Organization, which are also being used by the Census and Statistics Department in Hong Kong.

†  "Economically active" registered nurses comprised all "employed" and "unemployed" registered nurses. "Employed" registered nurses referred to those registered nurses practising in the nursing / midwifery profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, while "unemployed" registered nurses referred to those registered nurses who (a) were not practising in the local nursing / midwifery profession during the survey period; (b) had been available for work during the seven days before the survey; and (c) had sought work in the local nursing/midwifery profession during the 30 days before the survey.

‡   "Economically inactive" registered nurses comprised the registered nurses who were not practising in the nursing / midwifery profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, excluding those who had been on leave during the survey period and who were "economically active" but "unemployed".

Chart A : Activity Status of Registered Nurses Covered

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1.6   Among the 12 215 active registered nurses enumerated who were practising in the local nursing / midwifery profession, 11 460 (93.8%) were in the general stream and 755 (6.2%) were in the psychiatric and other streams ⁴ .

1.7   There were 35 active registered nurses enumerated who did not indicate their gender. Among the remaining 12 180 active registered nurses enumerated who were practising in the local nursing / midwifery profession, 1 634 (13.4%) were male and 10 546 (86.6%) were female, giving an overall sex ratio (males per 100 females) of 15. Apart from 237 registered nurses who did not indicate age, the median age of the remaining 11 978 active registered nurses enumerated was 42.0 years. The median age of the active female registered nurses enumerated was 43.0 years and that of their male counterparts was 38.0 years.

1.8   The responding active registered nurses enumerated were requested to indicate the characteristics of their main jobs ⁵ . Distribution by sector for the main job showed that more than half (67.2%) of the active registered nurses enumerated were working in the Hospital Authority, followed by those working in the private sector (17.9%), the academic and subvented sectors (7.8%) and the Government (6.7%).

1.9   The median age of the active registered nurses enumerated was 50.0 years for those working in the Government, followed by academic and subvented sectors (49.0 years), private sector (43.0 years) and Hospital Authority (41.0 years).

1.10   Of the 12 215 active registered nurses enumerated, 19.2% spent most of their working time on medicine, followed by 15.0% on surgery, 7.3% on ambulatory care / outpatients, 7.2% on geriatrics, 6.6% on administration / management, 6.3% on paediatrics, 5.5% on mental health / psychiatric / addiction treatment, 5.3% on public health and 5.2% on obstetrics.

1.11   The median number of hours of work (excluding meal breaks) per week of the 12 215 active registered nurses enumerated was 44.0 hours. Among them, 994 (8.1%) were required to undertake on-call duty (excluding normal duty), with a median of 10.0 hours of on-call duty (excluding normal duty) per week.

1.12   Of the 12 215 active registered nurses enumerated, 53.2% had received Student / Pupil Nurse Training, 28.3% held Bachelor’s degree and 13.2% held Higher Diploma as their basic qualifications.

1.13   Of the 12 215 active registered nurses enumerated, 9 957 (81.5%) had received / were receiving additional training. Of the 9 957 active registered nurses enumerated with additional training, 209 (2.1%) had not yet completed the additional training, 3 628 (36.4%) held Bachelor’s Degree, 3 544 (35.6%) held Master’s Degree, 1 093 (11.0%) held Certificate, 506 (5.1%) held Diploma and 417 (4.2%) held Post-graduate Diploma as the highest qualification.

⁴ Figure includes 753 registered nurses (psychiatric) and two registered nurses (sick children).

⁵ Main jobs refer to the jobs in which the registered nurses have spent most of their working time.

1.14  Of the 9 957 active registered nurses enumerated who had received / were receiving additional training, 5 621 (56.5%) were trained / receiving training in one field. Among them, 15.1% were trained / receiving training in general nursing, 13.3% in midwifery, 5.2% in emergency / first aid nursing, 5.1% in intensive care nursing, 5.0% in surgical nursing, 4.6% for each field in public health nursing and mental health nursing, 4.2% for each field in nephrology and geriatric nursing and 4.1% in coronary care nursing.

1.15  Among the 9 957 active registered nurses enumerated who had received / were receiving additional training, some of them selected more than one field of additional training. The total number of count of active registered nurses who had received / were receiving additional training was 17 474, in which 11.8% had received / were receiving additional training in midwifery, 9.8% in general nursing, 5.6% in intensive care nursing, 5.3 % in emergency / first aid nursing, 5.1% in geriatric nursing, 4.7% in nursing administration, 4.6% in community health, 4.3% for each field in public health nursing and surgical nursing and 4.0% in nephrology.

1.16  Regarding Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) / Post-registration Education in Midwifery (PEM), 10 723 (87.8%) of the active registered nurses enumerated reported that they had participated in CNE / PEM in 2016, 1 320 (10.8%) had not participated in any CNE / PEM in 2016 and 172 (1.4%) did not report whether they had participated in CNE / PEM or not. Among the 10 723 active registered nurses enumerated who had participated in CNE / PEM, the distribution of CNE / PEM points / hours attained in the past 12 months was: 1 to 5 points / hours (11.6%), 6 to 10 points / hours (13.5%), 11 to 15 points / hours (17.4%), 16 to 20 points / hours (15.4%) and more than 20 points / hours (42.1%).

II.   Trend Analysis

2.1   Comparison of findings of the 2016 HMS with those surveys conducted before 2004 should be cautious as the survey methods and reference date had been changed.

2.2   Between 2000 and 2016, the numbers of registered nurses covered were in the range from 20 193 to 38 719. The proportion of registered nurses in the general stream remained stable (92.3% - 94.2%) between 1987 and 2016 (Chart B & Table A) .

Chart B :   Number of Registered Nurses Covered by Year (2000, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2016)

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Note:	*	As the 2010 Health Manpower Survey only aimed at covering all registered nurses who had to renew their practising certificates in 2010, registered nurses who did not need to renew practising certificates in 2010 were excluded from the survey.
		Figure of 2000 refers to the number of registered nurses registered with Nursing Council of Hong Kong and who were holding valid practising certificates as at the 1st of July 2000, whereas the figures of 2004 to 2007, 2013 and 2016 refer to that as at the 31st of August of the respective years and the figure of 2010 refers to that as at the 31st of August 2010 and had to renew their practising certificates in 2010.

2.3   The sex ratio (males per 100 females) of active registered nurses enumerated ranged from 11 to 15 between 1987 and 2016 (Table A) .

2.4   The median age of the active registered nurses enumerated increased from 32.2 years in 1990 to 42.0 years in 2016.

2.5   From 1987 to 1990, the largest proportion of active registered nurses enumerated was working in the Government, which accounted for about 60% and the remaining registered nurses worked in the private, academic and subvented sectors. Since its setup in 1991, the Hospital Authority has been the largest employer covering 67.2% of active registered nurses in 2016, while the proportion of active registered nurses enumerated working in the Government was 6.7%. The proportion of active registered nurses enumerated working in the private sector increased from 10.0% in 1996 to 17.9% in 2016. During the same period, the proportion of active registered nurses enumerated working in the academic and subvented sectors increased from 3.5% to 7.8% (Table A) .

Table A : Selected Characteristics of Active Registered Nurses Enumerated (1987, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2016)

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